


The Visitor

by malazuzu22



Series: Random short MadaTobi [9]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends, M/M, Mutual Pining, more like space/time travel lol, what would MadaTobi without mutual pining be honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malazuzu22/pseuds/malazuzu22
Summary: Anyone looking for malfunctioning jutsus, time/space travel to alternative dimension and some talking therapy for emotionally wrecked idiots? This way please.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Series: Random short MadaTobi [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/855148
Comments: 4
Kudos: 128





	The Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my laptop for literal years because I always got stuck after a few paragraphs. Can't say I'm entirely happy with it but at least it finally got some ending so here we go.

Madara woke up with a groan. His skull was throbbing and his mouth was completely dry. Was he drinking the previous night? It certainly felt like a particularly bad case of hangover. He squirmed against the light above and blinked owlishly several times. Something was clearly amiss. Blue sky decorated with fluffy clouds above him. He heard birds tweeting in the distance. All evidence suggested he was outside. Could it be that he had gotten so drunk he passed out in the back garden? How shameful. What if someone saw him? Suddenly, as if someone hit him over the head, all the memories flooded his already strained brain.

_There was a huge detonation. ‘Tobirama, move aside you insane prick!’ That was the only thing Madara managed to scream before he shoved the Senju to the side with all his strength. All the air was knocked out of his lungs with the impact of the explosion and his vision started rapidly darkening. His head was pounding and he couldn’t hear anything but strange buzzing and rapid pace of his own heartbeat._

_As the initiator of the (literally) blasted jutsu, Tobirama was much closer to the source of the massive detonation than him. Was he alright? He had to be. Madara had to check upon the bleached bastard, what if he got hurt? Not that he particularly cared, mind you. But, just in case. Hashirama would hold it against him until his last dying breath if he didn’t help his precious little brother, right? He tried his utmost best but couldn’t will his body to move even an inch. Then he felt he was losing even the fight with his consciousness from shutting down. Blackness engulfed him. ‘Tobirama…’_

His eyes bulged with the dawning realization. Tobirama wanted his help with some kind of jutsu requiring use of katon. Then the seal went off and… ‘Holy shit! Did the explosion blast the whole lab into the air?!’ Madara sat up abruptly, immediately regretting that as his vision swung dangerously and his head throbbed even more vigorously. He was probably nursing a cracked skull. Or at least a concussion.

‘Tobirama, I swear to gods if you’re not dead already, I’m going to end you personally for this! And if you are, I’m going to finish that terrible resurrecting jutsu you are trying to crack just so I could murder you again!’ Madara screamed on top of his lungs, immensely pissed. But no sassy answer came his way.

That bleached bastard and his fucking “science”! He should have known better than getting involved with that mess. Or Tobirama. He just couldn’t learn from the previous catastrophes and succumbed to Tobirama’s charms again and again. Fuck that stupid smile of his the Senju didn’t hesitate to use against Madara in the most devious ways. Not that he had any benefits from the collaboration, not the kind he desired most. They just kept dancing around each other, neither of them quite willing to be the first to overstep the firmly set boundaries of “I hate you to the moon and back”.

Although, at the back of his mind where Madara seldom dared to wander as the main source of his weakness for the aforementioned man resided here, he secretly wished Tobirama was alright. The Senju wasn’t allowed to die on him before Madara finally gathered his courage and… Scratch that. Madara didn’t want anything from Tobirama and if he perished, good riddance too. Ha! No matter that he knew this was a blatant lie.

After a while of lying on his back, staring into the sky above his head and contemplating which katon jutsu would be the best for grilling the twice-damned Senju to the crisp, Madara finally came to a decision he was probably fit enough to get his body back into the vertical position. He scrambled up onto his more or less stable limbs and stumbled out of the bushes he woke up in.

Only to experience a minor heart attack. ‘What… what the hell is this?!’ He looked around himself wide-eyed, utterly and completely dumbfounded. Whatever this place was, it definitely wasn’t Konoha. What he could make of his surroundings were neatly trimmed lawns divided by gravel paths, bushes, trees, benches… Clearly he was in the middle of some huge garden.

But where was the garden itself? Behind the metal fence surrounding its borders Madara could see rows and rows of tall buildings. Very tall buildings. Literal towers made of concrete. It reminded him distantly of some crazy building diagrams Konoha shinobi managed to steal in Amegakure during one of the missions but the style was different. He concentrated on his chakra to momentary disturb its flow but nothing changed. Not likely a genjutsu then.

‘Hey, that’s a dope samurai cosplay, dude!’ An unfamiliar voice broke him from his reverie and Madara’s eyes snapped towards the source. A teenager stood there, staring at him. Madara stared back equally inquisitively. What the youngster was wearing could be described as something completely hideous. Trousers at least two sizes bigger than he needed, equally huge hoodie, strange kind of cap and ridiculous shoes with laces. Highly impractical for fighting and unfashionable even for a mere civilian.

Unnerved by Madara’s aggressive silence and wide eyes (okay, maybe his stare _was_ a bit manic), the teenager slowly backed away and then quickly jogged down the path, stealing anxious glances back at the Uchiha. ‘What the hell is a cosplay?’ Madara asked himself, glancing down. He was wearing his standard shinobi clothes, red armour and sandals. Gunbai was still securely strapped to his back. Nothing out of usual about his attire.

Unsure what to do, Madara decided to follow the path as well, heading in the opposite direction than the teenager. He met more people, some of them running, others riding a ridiculous thing with two wheels, others walking dogs on a leash. Madara shook his head. Summon animals weren’t supposed to be on a leash. He was surprised the summons didn’t protest against such disrespectful treatment. Some people were staring at him openly much like the kid a few minutes prior, some didn’t give a second glance.

Madara started to analyse what might have happened. He already ruled out a genjutsu. Everything around him was fucking real. So the most plausible conclusion was that the blast impact hauled him into another dimension. It certainly sounded like Tobirama and his constant attempts to mess with time and space. Kami knew what that idiotic experiment was about! Madara definitely didn’t. He probably should have asked but then he probably wouldn’t have agreed to help Tobirama in the first place. Well, too late to be sorry anyway. His best shot to get out of here was to hope Tobirama suffered the same fate and once he found him they would figure something out. Then and only then could the Senju be ripped into pieces. But where to start?

He was so deep in his thoughts he didn’t even register he left the garden. A squeaking sound and a loud honk startled him almost out of his skin. ‘Hey! Watch where you’re going, madman! I could have made a pancake out of you!’ A man yelled out of the window of the weird kind of metal vehicle that almost bumped into him.

‘Who do you call a madman?’ Madara shouted back angrily and bashed into the vehicle with his fist. It left a hollow dent in the metal and the man inside visibly paled. ‘Look, I don’t want any trouble. Just… Step off the road and watch your surroundings, mate. You could have gotten yourself killed.’ The man stammered out. Only then Madara noticed he was indeed standing in the middle of a road and more of these strange vehicles were passing around. Impatient honks of vehicles behind the one that almost managed to hit Madara urged him to take a few steps back out of the way. The driver watched him for a few more seconds cautiously before he recovered and swiftly drove away.

Mindful not to repeat the scene Madara kept to the side of the road apparently designed for walkers. More people passing him regarded him with more or less fearful expressions, putting as much space as possible between them as they hurried away. Most of the people didn’t give a damn though as they were too busy talking or tapping into some kind of tiny boxes. This world was decidedly weird.

He could have been wandering for half an hour maybe, more and more confused, when his eyes spotted very familiar features on a stranger crossing the road and his heart jolted with joy. He could recognize this white chaotic mess of hair everywhere and the bearing too was unmistakable.

‘Tobirama!’ Madara sped up to catch upon the man, genuinely excited to see the bleached bastard and in one piece on top of that. He couldn’t believe his luck, they really have been sent into this strange dimension together. Although, what was he wearing? Tobirama was distinctly lacking his happuri and blue armour, instead he was dressed in ways people of this world were. Was he in disguise then?

Being a prick as usually, Tobirama didn’t react, not even when Madara called his name several more times. ‘Hey, Senju! Dammit, stop ignoring me!’ He finally caught up with him and blocked his way to stop him and prevent him from walking any further. The man, indeed Senju Tobirama in all his pale grace, almost white skin pecked with pale freckles, three thin red lines on his cheeks and chin, irritated frown, just everything like it was supposed to be, plucked a pair of wires out of his ears –WEIRD – and bore his ruby red eyes into Madara’s skull in attempt to kill him with his death glare. Madara would almost cry at the display of such familiarity found in the middle of this crazy foreign place.

‘I don’t care what are you selling or advertising, I’m not interested. Just move out of my way.’ Tobirama barked grumpily. Even his melodic baritone was how it should be. Thank kami. ‘What are you on about? I’m not selling anything, Senju.’ Madara barked back, puzzled. That seemingly brought enough attention for the man actually looked at him and flinched.

‘Madara? Is that you? What the hell are you wearing? And what happened to your face? It’s all dirty.’ The man blinked in recognition and gave him a pointed once-over. ‘What’s wrong about my armour? It’s me who should be asking you about your weird attire. And where are we anyway?’ Madara asked impatiently. Surely Tobirama had to know what his jutsu going wrong might have caused.

‘Uh? Taito, Old Tokyo. Say, Uchiha, are you high?’ Tobirama regarded him with strange expression. Was the Senju messing with him? Tobirama was taller than him, as he frequently liked to point out during their squabbles, much to Madara’s annoyance. As if _that_ was a valid argument!

‘You’re not making any sense! This is entirely your fault, you did this! You caused this… this… madness! Explain yourself this instance!’ Madara’s poor nerves snapped as his patience ran too thin and he plucked a kunai out of his pouch to direct it at the silver-haired male.

‘Whoa, dude, calm down! Whatever happened to you has anything to do with me. And what’s your deal with the costume?’ Tobirama attempted to calm him down, arms up in a placating gesture. ‘The fuck Tobirama? I’m wearing standard shinobi armour. You have identical one in blue yourself, accompanied by that silly faceplate and fluffy collar of yours. If this is some kind of a sick joke then kami so help me…’ Madara gestured wildly, his weapon still aimed at Tobirama.

‘You’re clearly delusional. I’ve never seen this kind of attire before, maybe except for a samurai movie. And believe me, I’d remember owning something like this. I repeat once more – I have _no clue_ what happened to you and I really don’t appreciate being threatened like this!’ The man scoffed and took a step back, clearly alarmed.

‘Aaaargh. I have enough already. First I wake up in a bush only to find out you somehow transported us into this crazy world with one of your idiotic experiments and then you have the audacity to make a lunatic out of me? Cut this shit already and do something to bring us back to Konoha!’ Madara’s sharingan flickered to life as his temper boiled.

‘You woke up in a bush? You really must be on drugs or something. I don’t understand a word you say. And look at your eyes. Is that some kind of medical condition? Maybe I should call an ambulance even though I’m not entirely sure you deserve such consideration.’ Tobirama mused more to himself. ‘I’m so telling Hashirama about this and he will finally ban you from conducting your dubious hocus-pocus stuff. Kami knows you caused enough accidents as it is. This is the last straw, you bleached bastard!’ Madara stomped furiously, shaking with anger.

‘Bleached bastard? I thought you stopped using that ridiculous nickname when we left highschool.’ Tobirama growled, glaring with animosity. ‘And what could you possibly know about my experiments? You were never interested in my work. Nor me, actually. We barely speak to each other.’ He didn’t give Madara space to continue yelling profanities.

‘I know more than I should like. You made me help you with that stupid fuuinjutsu experiment. I should have known better you’re dangerous and you have no idea what it might cause.’ Madara pulled on his hair and started pacing in a tiny circle in front of the Senju.

‘You’re not making any sense, Uchiha. And you’re deluding yourself if you think Hashirama has any say about my research. Speaking of Hashi, why don’t you leave me alone and bother him instead?’ Tobirama sighed lonsufferingly.

‘You sent him into this world as well? Just how many people did that defective jutsu affect?’ Madara threw his arms up in exasperation. This had to be the worst Tobirama-induced catastrophe so far. ‘Look, nice chat but I really don’t have time for this. Nor the patience. I’m calling Hashirama to deal with you. Or do you want me to call into the mental hospital you’ve been displaced from?’ Tobirama shook his head and shuffled through his pockets.

’I’m not mental you prick! That would be you out of you and me. Why do I have to be acquainted to you anyway.’ Madara pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘No one’s holding you. You’re very much free to stop pestering me with your nonsense and frolic into the sunset, never to come back.’ Tobirama snapped and tried to step around Madara who lowered his kunai a while ago.

‘Wait wait wait, you’re not going anywhere! You're the first familiar person I met there and you have to solve this mess, you can't just leave!’ The Uchiha caught his wrist and the younger man scowled. ‘I most certainly can and I very much intend to. Let go of me. Now.’ Tobirama stressed every word and attempted to yank his hand free out of Madara’s vice grip, without much success.

‘For fuck’s sake! Did you hit your head too and forgot where we belong? Do I have to break it down for you? Fine, listen up. I’m Uchiha Madara. Head of the Uchiha clan. Involuntary the best friend of your brother Hashirama, who’s, to the great misfortune of everyone involved, the esteemed Hokage of the Hidden leaf village. You are Senju Tobirama, Hashirama’s younger brother and a freaking pain in the arse.’ Madara resorted to summarize the basics to him.

‘What’s a hokage? Did you just make that up? Alright humour me. Where did you say that hidden village of yours is situated?’ Tobirama seemed to be reaching the breaking point of his patience. Which was a lot to say, under normal circumstances Madara would expect Tobirama to shower him with a small suiryuudan and storm away much sooner.

‘Land of Fire. Our clans founded it together to end the wars raging for decades.’ Madara assumed he would have to take it easy on the Senju if he suffered from amnesia. ‘There’s no such land. And I most certainly did not found any village. It is indeed a sad sight but clearly you finally snapped and went insane.’ Tobirama mused and his brows creased as he studied Madara’s face for whatever signs of madness.

‘Fuck off, I’m perfectly normal. Maybe not in this world but it most certainly does exist. I’ve been there not an hour ago.’ Madara rolled his eyes, now back to his normal obsidian black. Why waste precious chakra on the Senju. ‘You really are insistent about that _outing to another dimension_ fairy-tale… I wonder what kind of trauma caused that…’ Tobirama scratched his tattooed chin.

‘Listen, I have no idea how we got there but I would very much appreciate if _you_ returned to normal and helped me figure out how to get back. You are the one messing with space-time jutsu all the time! I know next to nothing about those. Otherwise I’d happily leave you rot in this dimension with zero regrets.’ Madara defended himself viciously.

‘Jutsu? Pray what nonsense is that that you have to repeat it all the time?’ Tobirama inquired. With a flat expression Madara lifted his hand to his lips, moulded chakra in his lungs and breathed it out. A small flicker of flames danced on his palm, much to Tobirama’s shock.

‘Have you started performing magic tricks in your spare time? Oh yeah, right. I should have known. This is some kind of prank Izuna came up with, right? Hidden camera and practical joke. Is he laughing his ass off at my expense hidden somewhere in the bushes?’ Tobirama narrowed his eyes and scanned their surroundings, void of any other people as they were in some small side alley.

Madara rolled his eyes again and performed a tiny fireball jutsu. Tobirama’s mouth snapped shut as he stared with eyes widened. ‘That’s a jutsu you dimwit. Katon jutsu. You can similarly use water release.’ The Uchiha tried – obviously in vain – to remind Tobirama of his suiton affinity. ‘That’s… Unbelievable. Maybe it’s me after all who went mad.’ Tobirama lifted the back of his palm to his forehead, presumably to check his temperature.

‘Or perhaps you could finally start believing I’m not pulling your leg.’ Madara responded dryly. ‘But… How…? Space-time travelling is deemed impossible… Although breathing fire out of your mouth is as well. Maybe you really are from another dimension. The sheer absurdity of this conversation is a proof this might as well happen.’ Tobirama muttered eventually.

‘That’s what I’m telling you the whole time, moron!’ Madara huffed, irritated but somehow hopeful he was slowly getting his point across. ‘Alright. I’m probably going to regret this but let’s just go along with your story. If you really are a space-time traveller or whatever, I can’t with a clear conscience let you run around dressed like that and wreak havoc. Come with me. I’ll let you stay with me for a while and you have to tell me everything… I’ll have to call Hashirama to discuss what to do about you…’ Tobirama trailed off, then nodded resolutely. Madara eyed him suspiciously before he finally came to a decision this wasn’t some kind of a trap and finally let go of Tobirama’s wrist. ‘Well, what are we waiting for, follow me.’ Tobirama started walking and Madara didn’t really have much choice but to obey.

After a few minutes of walking in silence – Madara tried not to stare at his surroundings, it was too much to process for his poor concussed brain and Tobirama was apparently immersed into his own musings – the Senju turned towards a small house and led Madara through the front garden towards the main door.

‘This is where I live now that Hashirama with Mito kept the family house. It’s small but I have a spare room you can use. After you.’ Tobirama held the door open for him. Madara was shocked he was capable of being almost… Gentlemanly.

The lights flickered on above his head and Madara squinted against them. ‘You said you don’t know what a jutsu is.’ He accused the younger male viciously. ‘I… don’t? This is fucking electricity. You don’t have that?’ Tobirama touched a switch and the lights turned off. Madara took a step towards the switch and nudged him out of the way.

‘Day, night, day, night. Mmm. What a peculiar use of raiton.’ Madara switched the lights on and off several times. ‘Stop it. You are worse than a kid. I understand your curiosity but there's a certain point when it starts to be really annoying.’ Tobirama swatted his hand away from the switch and with one hand on his shoulder steered him down the hall into something that was probably kitchen.

‘But the strange glass bulbs. How do you get the raiton into them without them breaking?’ Madara asked further. Lighting areas like this seemed like a better idea than using torches and petrol lamps. Safer too as it would likely eliminate possible fire accidents. ‘Honestly, I don’t know if you aren’t pulling my leg. There are cables in the walls distributing the electricity in small doses to power all kinds of devices.’ Tobirama explained tiredly.

‘Devices?’ Madara wondered. Not just lights? ‘Yes? An oven, kettle, fridge, television…’ Tobirama pointed at several items around the kitchen adjoined with the living room. ‘Television? What does it do?’ Madara stepped towards a box with one side made of glass. ‘This.’ Tobirama pushed a button and the glass side flickered to life, pictures moving on it.

‘Why do you have a genjutsu in a box?’ Madara turned to the Senju incredulously. ‘What? It’s a movie. A video. The television is designed with many tiny coloured lights, and when combined they create a picture. Or a moving picture, in this case. You can record stuff and then replay it on the TV.’ Tobirama explained with slight exasperation.

‘Huh. I see…’ Madara activated his sharingan and stepped so close towards the screen his nose was almost touching it to properly inspect how the picture was made. ‘Step away idiot, you’ll damage your eyes. And stop doing whatever causes them to change colour to red. It’s unsettling.’ Tobirama promptly dragged him back away and pushed him towards a couch.

‘Sit there. Watch the TV if you want to. I’m going to find you some… Normal clothes. You can’t waddle around like this.’ The Senju gestured towards Madara’s armour. Madara wanted to protest but then he conceded his attire was probably standing out too much in this new world and kami knew how long he would be stuck here before Tobirama regained his memory.

While Tobirama retreated into the house Madara watched the screen with vague interest. The story going on was utterly stupid. Some cliché romance with predictable plot. ‘What a waste of effort to create a record of something so worthless.’ Madara scoffed and sank deeper into the cushions.

Something happened then and the sound coming out of the tele-box increased a lot while the pictures changed, now prompting him to buy some kind of sugary beverage. Madara jumped up startled by the sudden noise. Clueless how to shut it down, he darted his eyes around the room. Which button it was Tobirama made the box come into life with?

Luckily for him Tobirama hurried into the room, several pieces of clothes in his hands, and turned the television off with a short stick. ‘You probably sat on the remote.’ The Senju chuckled at Madara’s panicky expression. ‘Here. I hope you won’t mind borrowing my own clothes. They are too wide for me so they should fit you good.’ He pointed to the clump of clothes on the couch.

‘Are you suggesting I’m fat?’ Madara narrowed his eyes and puffed up. ‘No! I meant, you’re obviously bulkier than me, not that I gave it much attention but… Duh, I didn’t mean any offense.’ Tobirama looked away. ‘Relax, I’m just messing with you, Senju. I know perfectly I’m in shape.’ Madara smirked, even more so at Tobirama’s glare and annoyed huff.

‘Asshole. I’ll show you to the guest room so you can change.’ Tobirama gestured awkwardly when Madara didn’t say anything more. He just picked the clothes up and followed the white-haired man further into the house. ‘Here it is. Bathroom is directly across the hall. I’ll leave you to your devices now, just don’t use your… jutsu inside, you would turn on the fire alarm. Come to the kitchen when you’re changed, I’ll fix us something to eat meanwhile.’ Tobirama enumerated and backed out of the room, leaving Madara alone.

The bedroom was small but cosy. Most of the free space was occupied by stacks and stacks of books. Inspecting the titles briefly, Madara had to snort. ‘Science and more science. Typical.’ Why did he expect anything else, honestly.

Still a bit shaken from the previous experience with television box, Madara was wary to touch anything. He just quickly unstrapped his armour and changed into black pants and red t-shirt Tobirama gave him. For a brief moment he appreciated how the smell of the Senju enveloped him – it was the same smell of tea and ink Tobirama of his own world had – before he shook his head on himself. There were more important things to do then smell borrowed clothes like some kind of kinky creep. Which he certainly wasn’t, thank you very much.

Paying a visit to the bathroom, Madara washed his hands and face, getting rid of a few smudges of black the explosion left there. Then he tried to comb his hair with his fingers to tame them into some sort of array, an unsurprisingly pitiful attempt.

Once done with making himself somewhat presentable, Madara decided to venture back into the kitchen. ‘Oh. You’re done? It… suits you. Better than me, that is. Red is not my colour.’ Tobirama turned to check him out, stirring contents of a pot with one hand absentmindedly.

‘Nonsense, it would do you good to make a change from your usual black and blue. And don’t get me started on that ridiculous knack for fur collars.’ Madara shrugged. ‘Not a word against fur collars. Clearly, you've no idea what’s fashionable.’ Tobirama huffed dismissively. Madara had to chuckle. No matter what, some things never changed.

‘So, shouldn’t I start writing a message for Hashirama? Where’s your aviatory by the way? Garden, I suppose?’ Madara sat down behind the table, watching the younger man pottering around the kitchen. ‘Avi… What? Why on earth would I own something like that?’ Tobirama paused at chopping carrots and looked at Madara in bemusement.

‘Obviously you need to keep your birds somewhere…?’ Madara raised his brows, conveying how clearly stupid Tobirama’s question was. ‘What birds? Gosh no, I’m not into ornithology. It’s Hashirama who’s the nature-loving freak. Despite what it did to him.’ Tobirama responded in a similar manner. Madara had a short laugh about his joke on Hashirama’s expense.

‘Alright, but how do you intend to contact him then?’ The Uchiha still didn’t comprehend. ‘Oh you mean… No, pigeon post is ridiculously outdated; we use cell phones to communicate. They are connected via satellite in space that’s emitting signal of the right frequency.’ Tobirama’s frown disappeared as he finally comprehended and he took a small device out of his pocket.

‘I didn’t understand a word you just said. But it explains why so many people on the street talked into those tiny boxes.’ Madara looked at the lightened screen. There was a picture of Hashirama with his hands around Tobirama’s waist, who had one boy with two-coloured hair on his shoulders and another one with light brown hair hanging on his arm. They were all kids, Hashirama with Tobirama barely into their teens. Tobirama somehow looked utterly annoyed but happy at the same time to have all of them hanging on him. Madara never saw the other two boys but they all resembled each other.

‘Wait a minute, are those…?’ Madara’s eyes widened as he put two and two together. ‘Yes, my brothers, all of them. It’s an old picture.’ Tobirama coughed lightly and promptly turned the screen off, somewhat embarrassed. ‘Wow. So they are alive in this dimension?’ Madara was confused. ‘Why wouldn’t they, aren’t they in yours?’ Tobirama countered, horrified. ‘Well, no, they perished in the war, as well as mine, except for Izuna…’ Madara clarified hesitantly and winced at Tobirama’s hollow expression. It wasn’t his intention to make him upset.

‘But then... What about my brothers, how many do I have? Are they all right?’ The realization dawned on him and Uchiha gripped Tobirama’s forearm with great urgency, heart hammering. Could it be...?

‘I guess? There’s entirely too many Uchihas for my taste. Five, precisely. I don’t know much about Tajiro’s endeavours these days save he’s still working as the CEO of your family company, he’s engaged to a Yamanaka heiress and generally he’s a busy successful man. Izuna works for the company as well, press communication and whatsoever. He always had the silver tongue, sweet-talking his way out of trouble and whatnot. And the twins… Mmm. Haruma is attending the medic college together with our Itama and Takuma is getting his degree from engineering thermophysics. He’s rooming with Kawarama, sadly, but I didn’t get any call from the school this week about them getting into trouble so I guess they should be fine.’ Tobirama enumerated all of their brothers.

Tajiro, Haruma with Takuma… All of them alive and well? Relief and gratitude spread all over Madara’s body. How would they look like? Last time he saw the twins they were only eight years old, mere children a little too small for their armour, entirely too young and innocent to be slaughtered during a Hyuuga ambush.

‘Do you…’ Madara’s voice hitched with sudden wave of hope. ‘Do I have any pictures of them? Loads, I guess I could find some. Lemme see...‘ Tobirama got the clue. ‘Kawa and Itama keep bothering me via snapchat all the time, a habit they picked up from Hashirama…’ Tobirama grumbled half-irritably and tapped on the phone screen several times. At that moment Madara didn’t care to ask what snapchat was, the only thing he wanted was to see his beloved family after such a long time.

‘Here. Look at whatever you want. Take your time. You can go through the album like this.’ Tobirama handed him the phone and swiped his fingers from one side of the screen to the other to show Madara how to operate the device before he returned to the stove.

Apparently the white-haired Senju was a secret hoarder of photos as his phone-thingy was full of pictures from various stages of their lives. Most of the time there were the Senju brothers, logically, but more recent photos frequently included dark-haired young men as well.

The twins were still wearing their twin braids and their faces were completely similar yet Madara instantly recognized which one is which. ‘Haruma looks just like our father. Takuma on the other hand is all okaa-san, the hair and wide smile.’ Madara murmured, his throat suddenly tight. They were so handsome and happy on the pictures out in the park, attending some kind of concert or having a dinner, just living their lives like they deserved.

Another photo included all four of the Senju plus three women – Madara recognized Mito and Touka – and all five of the Uchiha, the last man with long slick reddish-black hair pulled together at the low ponytail who was hugging a pretty blonde girl around her waist had to be Tajiro. He even had that scar across the face. All the people in the picture were wearing big smiles and waving, most likely having some kind of celebration. Madara suddenly felt the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. So this was how the things could be?

‘It’s the New Year’s celebration Hashirama held last year. It’s not that often we manage to gather everyone including Tajiro and Ineko...’ Tobirama said quietly from behind him, startling Madara. ‘Is there anything wrong?’ The Senju put his palm on Madara’s shoulder with apparent concern when Madara sniffed.

‘No, on the contrary. Everything’s perfect in this world.’ Madara turned his face away, embarrassed. ‘I gathered from your previous question you live in a pretty grim alternative reality.’ Tobirama breathed out quietly. ‘The war I mentioned before... It claimed many lives. Far too many.’ Madara replied bluntly.

‘I see... I’m sorry for your loss.’ Tobirama put a palm on his shoulder warily. ‘I try not to think too hard on it. Those of us who survived have better lives now we managed to make peace. The village is a safe place for everyone who’s willing to forgive and forget, put aside the bad blood and start anew. I personally had a pretty hard time to cope with all of that but the responsibility for others made me collaborate. And then you slowly learn your former enemies are not so different from you and you have a common cause. To take care of your precious ones.’ Madara shrugged and smiled at him sadly.

‘I can’t imagine what would losing my family do to me.’ Tobirama said hollowly. ‘Well I can, from my own experience with you. It turned you into a merciless warrior, probably full of spite and suspicion and regret. It took you a lot of time to melt all that ice a bit. But who am I to judge.’ Madara snorted humourlessly. Tobirama didn’t answer for a while. Then he turned around and went to the stove, most likely to busy himself instead of dwelling on dreadful possibilities.

‘The dinner is ready, I presume you’re hungry?’ He said with a carefully guarded voice. ‘Now you mention it, I won’t refuse some food. And if you cook as good as your other version, all the better.’ Madara was glad for the change of topic. ‘Please have a seat.’ Tobirama gestured towards the table. ‘Do you need any help?’ Madara asked out of politeness and was equally politely refused.

Once they were both seated and dug in, Madara felt himself relaxing. The comfortable silence was interrupted when Tobirama turned to him curiously. ‘Say. What’s our relationship? Are we friends back in your place?’ The Senju glanced at him from his plate. It was an innocent question but it almost made Madara choke on his mouthful.

‘No. You’re too much of an infuriating prick for that.’ Madara pulled a face that earned him all too familiar flat face of “go fuck yourself, Uchiha”. Madara chuckled. ‘Should have guessed as much. It must be a universal truth that no matter what, we’re just not compatible.’ Tobirama mused into his plate. To his surprise, Madara detected slight disappointment in his voice.

‘Nah, I digress. At least when it comes to fighting, we can be quite a pair. The beginnings were definitely rough; we hated each other with passion. But we came around I guess? Well, we kind of had to, Hashirama insisted.’ Madara rolled his eyes. The rule was never to speak it out loud but somewhere along the road they probably did slip into some sort of friendship. Tobirama only hummed thoughtfully in response.

‘And what about here?’ Madara asked conversationally. ‘Uh. We’re not really on speaking terms. Not since... Nevermind.’ Tobirama dodged the explanation and averted his eyes. ‘Mhm. Gathered as much from your previous reaction on meeting me on the street.’ Madara replied simply. He didn’t mean to pry and from the way Tobirama’s shoulders relaxed he realized that it was a good approach.

‘So, what are we going to do about my tiny problem?’ He asked instead. ‘Frankly, I have no idea. I mean, there are lots of theories on time and space travelling but this is just...’ Tobirama gestured at his whole person. ‘Devilishly handsome, I know.’ Madara grinned. ‘Duh. I meant to say unbelievable. And I was talking about the situation, not you specifically.’ Tobirama crossed his arms, unimpressed.

‘But you didn’t deny it.’ Madara raised a brow. ‘Continue like this and I’ll kick your sorry ass back on the street with zero remorse. I swear some things never change.’ Tobirama groused, cheeks adorably aflame.

‘Alright, alright. So do you have any kind of plan?’ Madara decided to play by the rules as Tobirama from his world wouldn’t hesitate to carry out the threat and so he wasn’t about to push his luck with his other, equally grumpy personification.

‘I will have to look into some books and browse the internet for some academic papers on the matter…’ Tobirama mumbled absentmindedly, his mind already running at full speed. ‘Not that I know much of time and space theories or what the hell the internet is, but I’m prepared to help in any way you need.’ Madara offered. He took a quiet hum as a confirmation and they finished the meal in comfortable silence.

After dinner, Tobirama put the dishes into a weird small cupboard. ‘That’s a dishwasher. Great invention, saves a lot of time. Plus I hate having wrinkled fingertips.’ Tobirama explained shortly and gestured back into the living room. He rummaged through his stuff, bringing more and more books, each of them thicker than the other. He even materialized out of somewhere a teapot with two cups and some biscuits and they got to work.

A few hours later they were still completely stuck. It was well into the night and Madara’s eyes felt all stingy and tired. Even Tobirama, who was unrelenting in his staring into the books, brows furrowed in concentration, stifled a yawn every other minute. Out of the corner of his eyes, Madara kept stealing glances at him. He truly was an impeccable copy of his own Tobirama, down to the last freckle.

‘It’s late. Why don’t we take a break? I need to stretch a bit.’ Madara sat up to distract himself from staring rudely. He had to remember this was only temporary and even though this Tobirama was equally edible as the Tobirama of his own world, he had to control himself.

‘That’s probably a good idea. You can go outside, I’ll be there in a minute.’ Tobirama pointed at the glass door leading to the back garden. ‘Yeah, fresh air should do me some good.’ Madara nodded and slipped out. The night crisp air filled his lungs and cooled his flushed cheeks.

He decided to walk around the garden when suddenly he was hit by a water current. ‘What in the devil..!’ Madara swore and attempted to jump away from the danger when he was hit again. Before he could as much as start yelling profanities, Tobirama came out of the house.

‘You said you can’t control water! Were you lying to me the whole time, having fun on my expense, huh?’ Madara roared the second he spotted him. ‘What are you on about?’ Tobirama stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Your suiton! You obviously set traps around the garden!’ Madara gestured wildly to his drenched clothes. That moment, his best fuming face was tarnished by a splatter of water straight into it.

‘You mean the sprinklers?’ Tobirama couldn’t hold it any longer and started laughing out loud. ‘Of course you’re having a ball, aren’t you, you bleached prick. Ahaha, really funny, making a fool of the stupid Uchiha. This is why I hate you so much!’ Madara screamed while he was retreating to the porch, not even trying to avoid the water bullets any more.

‘Now you finally sound like your present self.’ Tobirama immediately schooled his expression to an impassive wall of ice. ‘I have no traps around the garden. These are called sprinklers and they are scheduled to water the garden regularly so I wouldn’t have to do it myself. I forgot it’s time for them to turn on.’ He continued with guarded voice. It lacked the previous warmness and Madara just knew he overreacted.

‘Ah. So you don’t...?’ He asked warily. ‘No, for the last time I really fucking don’t control elements! Although I’m still very capable of smashing your face in if you intend to continue accusing me of lying.’ Tobirama snapped. ‘Well, this is awkward… I guess apology is in order then.’ Madara rubbed the nape of his neck. Now it was Tobirama’s turn to deflate. In fact, he seemed rather taken aback.

‘What was that? You… apologized?’ Tobirama gasped. ‘Despite what you might think, I’m not completely unreasonable. Isn’t it what adult people do when they realize their wrongdoings?’ Madara raised a brow. ‘Well, yes, I mean, sure. It’s just that… I wouldn’t really expect this from the Madara I know.’ Tobirama shrugged, hands shoved in his pockets.

‘You make it sound like my other self is even bigger prick than me.’ Madara snorted and looked at him inquisitively. Just what transpired between Tobirama and him (well, not really him but still kinda him) that made them despise each other so much?

‘Yes and no… Look, I’m not sure I want to go through this particular conversation, especially with someone who happens to look exactly like the person I desperately try to avoid as much as possible.’ Tobirama wrought his palms together nervously.

‘Clearly, we aren’t the same person. Maybe you could take it as some kind of therapy? Pretend I’m the other Madara and get it off your chest.’ Madara suggested. He didn’t really know why, but he wanted to help the Senju. Probably because he felt like he owed him for lending him a helping hand and letting him stay in his house. Yeah, definitely had to be gratitude for that. No feelings involved.

‘I don’t know, it feels weird. But maybe you’re right. What else can I lose here anyway? Here, take a blanket before you catch a cold, you’re all wet. It’s enough to deal with your “outing to another dimension” problem, you don’t have to be sick on top of that.’ Tobirama handed him a fluffy light blue blanket and sat down heavily on the porch, looking absently in front of himself. Madara sat down next to him, waiting for him to start.

‘You and Hashirama, you were best friends since the elementary. Wherever he went, you did too. Inseparable.’ Tobirama finally gathered his thoughts. ‘It’s only logical I saw you a lot. Not that we were ever interested in each other, mind you. I was too much of a book-worm for you and it was true. I was always the quiet nerdy kid. Whereas for me, you were the short-tempered ever-yelling Uchiha who had all Hashirama’s attention.’ Tobirama grumbled.

‘It almost sounds like you were jealous.’ Madara raised a brow with a smirk. ‘I don’t know, maybe I was. I mean, I had Kawarama and Itama to pester me and I mostly preferred to be on my own anyway but Hashirama was my first buddy and he just sort of… Pushed me to the side a little? Either way, he talked about you often enough for me to be fed up even with your name.’ Tobirama admitted.

‘Well, skip a few years forward. I’m still the albino weirdo with glasses, braces and no friends. I wasn’t bullied by everyone only because I happened to be a brother of the most popular kid at highschool – the great and admired Senju Hashirama. Every cool kid wanted to be friends with him and every girl was pining after his deep brown eyes.’ Tobirama made a face of pretended disgust.

‘As it happened, I skipped a year ahead and therefore Izuna was one of my classmates. I didn’t really care for him either but he had this funny impression we were rivals and his frequent nagging and taunting became sort of a habit. As I learned to stand my ground, there were times when my patience snapped and we ended up at each other’s throat. Of course you were always on his side, making it obvious you despise me for lashing out at your oh so innocent baby brother. Funnily enough, Hashirama most of the time tried to brush it off instead of defending me like you did with your younger sibling.’ Tobirama took a pause in his storytelling, visibly overcoming old resentment. With a sad heave he opened his mouth to go on.

‘Somewhere around that time I realized that I was gay. Naturally, I didn’t tell a soul. Either way, Izuna somehow figured it out. All things escalated during your prom. I didn’t want to go but Touka convinced me to attend because of Hashirama. Everyone expected Hashi to win the prom king election. To a big surprise, you were the one to win. It was all cool until they had to announce the prom queen. Izuna’s idea of a great joke was to convince everyone to vote for me to be your queen.’ Tobirama was almost whispering at that point. Madara felt a huge swell of anger rising up inside him but before he could start swearing, Tobirama continued.

‘Just imagine. That utter silence right after the announcement followed gradually by everyone hollering, laughing and pointing at me while I was standing there in the corner starstruck and unable to react. The sheer humiliation of being mocked by everyone. I don’t think I ever felt worse in my entire life. That was the turning point for Hashirama. Finally he stood up for me and went for Izuna, what logically infuriated you. It was, frankly, a mayhem. You irrationally kept defending Izuna even after all this and Hashi told you he didn’t want to have anything with your family anymore. Touka managed to sneak past you and broke Izuna’s nose before she stormed out and took me along, followed by Hashirama. And for a while, that was the end of yours and Hashirama’s friendship.’

Madara didn’t know, what to say. He felt anger and pity on Tobirama’s behalf. Tobirama’s voice was hollow, void of any emotion, but still Madara knew he had to be hurting even after years had passed since the unfortunate event. ‘That’s… I’m really sorry for what happened to you and…’ Madara tried but Tobirama snorted dryly.

‘Oh that’s not the whole story yet. You and Hashi weren’t on speaking terms for a while but your bond was stronger than anger and eventually you somehow made up. As you two left home for uni, I decided to transfer to a different high school and things went back to normal. It did me a lot of good actually, I joined the water polo team, found some friends, got out of my shell. Once I went out for the night with the team, I met Izuna in a bar. He even apologized for being such a jerk, would you believe that? Although I suspect it was partially because he had a huge crush on Touka since she punched his nose into his skull and wanted to make a good impression.’ Tobirama smirked to himself.

‘The families got back together. It must be a weird joke of the universe that Uchiha and Senju eventually end up being friends. The ocassional gatherings where we met, we never spoke much. I still felt the lingering distaste out of you even though there was no more bad blood between me and Izuna. Add on top of that we could never agree on anything and there goes our relationship. Which was a pity because when you kept your mouth shut, you were kinda hot. Unfortunately you were also well aware of the fact which made you even more annoying.’ Tobirama grumbled irritably.

‘No way. You had a crush!’ Madara exclaimed gleefully. ‘I did not.’ Tobirama snapped and graced him with a scorching glare. ‘I mean, I can understand, it’s a no small feat to resist my personal charm…’ Madara continued to pester him all the same. ‘Shut your cakehole, would you?’ Tobirama rolled his eyes, face slightly pink. ‘It’s not bragging when you can back it up.’ Madara opposed, gesturing towards his face.

‘Idiot. Anyway, remember the photo from the New Year’s I showed to you?’ Tobirama asked while Madara marvelled at the delightful shade of red of the Senju’s cheeks. ‘Yeah, what of it?’ He blinked innocently when Tobirama’s pointedly cleared throat reminded him he was staring.

‘Shortly after the photo was taken, we got separated from the rest of the group. As we were also spectacularly drunk and you started your usual self-proclaiming speech, I responded accordingly. In hindsight, it was a fatal mistake but at the moment I thought taking you by surprise and flirting with you instead of telling you to fuck off was the best idea I had in weeks. It seemed perfectly logical that the tension between us could only be dealt with by talking it off as it wasn’t going anywhere for years. Only you started flirting back.’

‘Who wouldn’t?’ Madara shrugged. ‘Huh?’ Tobirama gave him a side glance. ‘How can someone so smart be also so oblivious? Have you ever looked in the mirror?’ Madara shook his head. ‘Of course but…’

‘No butts.’ The Uchiha interrupted. ‘Tobirama, from my vast experience with you, you’re absolute dreamboat. Handsome, smart, witty, a freaking great warrior but also kind and gentle towards the ones you care about. Did I mention your voice? Or the freckles? And yeah, you have a goddamn fine ass. And that’s just what I can think of from top of my head.’ Madara enumerated.

Tobirama was rendered silence for a moment, face flushed anew. In hindsight, Madara probably shouldn’t have said all of that but this wasn’t _his_ Senju so what could go wrong? At least he finally got it off his chest. ‘Have you ever told him?’ Tobirama finally asked. ‘Told who?’ Madara tilted his head in confusion. ‘The other me.’ Tobirama replied. ‘Nooooo, why would I do that?’ Madara grimaced, all previous confidence lost in a blink of an eye.

‘What if he likes you too?’ Tobirama voiced what the tiny treacherous voice in Madara’s head kept repeating when he was on his own, contemplating his feelings towards the Senju. ‘Naaaah, I seriously doubt that. To be honest, I actually think he sent me here entirely on purpose, just to get rid of me. There. No more questions, okay?’ Madara said hurriedly. Somehow it was too easy to talk openly to a stranger with familiar face and he regretted a bit letting his guard down that much.

‘Come on, we were getting somewhere. Don’t change the topic now.’ Tobirama pursed his lips in a displeased manner. ‘Pretty sure I already did. And I think we were discussing your troublesome childhood before, weren’t we?’ Madara crossed his arms to clearly show he wouldn’t budge on this.

‘Fine. As you wish. Back to my story then. I’m almost at the end. So we were outside looking at the stars, bickering and flirting back and forth and suddenly I slipped on the ice and you – I mean he – caught me. And suddenly we were all too close and his arms were around me as he had me holding onto him not to fall and our condensed breath mixed together and then…’ At that point Madara, who was on tethers, all giddy about them, couldn’t stop himself from interrupting.

‘Oooh you kissed! Nice! Was it any good? I mean, I’m a good kisser but I can’t vouch for my other self.’ Madara started rambling excitedly. Tobirama sighed, looking in front of himself at nothing in particular. ‘It would be a very good kiss, if only he kept his mouth shut. Once we separated, he said, quoting: “It’s long overdue, but now you’re officially my prom queen.” With that stupid smile on top of that.’ Tobirama spat, voice full of resentment. ‘Ouch.’ Madara winced. ‘You mean absolutely disgraceful.’ The Senju gritted his teeth.

‘What did you do?’ Madara didn’t dare to oppose. ‘Shoved him off me, told him to fuck off, walked away and blocked his number.’ Tobirama crossed his arms. Madara didn’t get the bit about numbers but apparently it was a big deal. ‘So you haven’t spoken since?’ The Uchiha figured. ‘Not that he didn’t try many times but what’s there to speak about? He only made fun of me. He made me believe he was into me for a moment, only to crush me by reminding me the worst moment of my life!’ Tobirama hissed in suppressed anger, fists balled tightly.

‘Maybe he didn’t mean it that way. What can you know? I mean, I can say stupid things sometimes so… He _might_ have been into you since you were teens, waiting for the right opportunity. Only to make a stupid blunder by not realizing the words he said might hurt you. Didn’t it cross your mind?’ Madara tried to make amends for his other self. ‘What does it matter? The damage is done.’ Tobirama insisted, even though there was a hint of hesitation in his voice.

‘True but at least your families weren’t slaughtering each other for decades. There are things that cannot be fully mended and forgotten no matter what but this doesn’t seem like the case to me.’ Madara patted his back encouragingly. Tobirama gave him a look full of doubts but didn’t say anything.

He was just about to break the silence when Madara felt the tiniest quiver of very familiar chakra. His heart jolted on its own. Could it be…? He looked around hopefully and… ‘There!’ He pointed in the middle of the garden, getting a puzzled look from his companion in response, but a moment later, a hole appeared in the air a few metres from them and a tall white-haired figure fell out of it as if the hole spat him out.

‘Whew, that really wasn’t very comfortable.’ The ninja Tobirama bent over, holding his stomach. ‘Hey. You okay, Senju?’ Madara leapt to his feet without thinking to support him. ‘I’m no sissy, get off me, Uchiha. Besides, shouldn’t I be the one asking this question?’ Tobirama grumbled and straightened his back.

‘Well shoot me. He just materialized out of thin air and it’s like looking in the mirror. I can’t even tell anybody unless I want to be sent to psych ward.’ The modern world Tobirama commented as he made a few steps towards them. ‘What the…?!’ The ninja world Tobirama immediately backed away and fell into the fighting stance once he spotted his impeccable copy.

‘Uh. Calm down, he’s harmless. Tobirama, meet… Well, yourself.’ Madara introduced them. ‘Harmless? Beg your pardon, I’m perfectly able to defend myself should the need arise.’ The modern world Tobirama scoffed. ‘Come on, you know what I meant. I’m sure you can throw a punch but there’s no need at the moment.’ Madara pointed out impatiently.

‘So I’ve been having kittens about your whereabouts and in the meantime you managed to find and pester my other self?’ The ninja Tobirama deadpanned. He apparently accepted the fact he existed in the alternative reality without batting an eyelash as he lowered his kunai. Madara’s heart made a flip. Was Tobirama really worried about him?

‘He was pretty insistent I had to help him, brandishing his knives at me and whatnot. I didn’t really have much choice.’ The modern world Tobirama shrugged. ‘I can picture it pretty vividly. You really are a fucking menace, Uchiha.’ The other Senju shook his head with badly concealed grin. ‘If it’s of any interest to you, his other version from this dimension is equally annoying.’ The first one matched the grin as Madara exhaled loudly. Some of his fantasies did include Tobirama and his shadow clone, but ganging up on him certainly wasn’t anywhere near his imaginations. ‘Me, a menace. As if you in two copies weren’t a much worse nightmare…’ He grumbled under his breath.

‘Uchihas aside, I’m afraid we’ll be forced to leave any minute now. The crack in time-space is becoming too unstable for us to linger. It took an insane amount of chakra as well as Izuna’s not entirely willing cooperation to open it and we need to leave as soon as possible or else we might get stuck here for good.’ The ninja Tobirama turned serious again.

‘But you can’t just leave! I have so many questions, I need to know everything about this. How did you manage to bend time and space? What kind of power that chakra you keep talking of is exactly? What is the source and how do you even control it?’ The other Tobirama jumped up in distress.

‘Look, I understand. And I really regret I cannot stay and answer all your questions to my best ability but simply it’s not possible. The chance we would be able to open another crack to get back to the exact right time and place is pretty much non-existent. In fact, it took a lot of effort to prevent this one from closing right after the explosion and even more tinkering to keep it open for such a long period of time so it’s a miracle I managed to get here to fetch the troublesome hedgehog.’ Tobirama gestured towards Madara, looking apologetic.

‘Fine… Let me get your stuff before you leave.’ Tobirama number two pouted in disappointment and jogged towards the house.

‘So… You said you were worrying about me?’ Madara smirked slyly once he disappeared in the house. ‘Oh shut it.’ Tobirama groaned and crossed his arms, frowning. ‘You were!’ He barred his teeth in a gleeful grin. ‘No I wasn’t! But it was my defective jutsu that lauched your sorry ass here so once I figured out what happened, I felt obliged to make things right.’ Tobirama snapped angrily.

‘How generous. I should thank the remnants of your conscience then for making you go on a heroic rescue mission.’ Madara remarked sarcastically. ‘I certainly wouldn’t miss your obnoxious presence but imagine the sheer bother of explaining the rest of your clan what exactly happened to their clan head. No one would believe it wasn’t on purpose.’ Tobirama scoffed.

‘It’s not like I’m overjoyed I have to share air with you again. Good to know your motivations though.’ Madara snorted humourlessly. He felt hurt. What did he expect anyway? That Tobirama would confess his profound love out of blue? He must have gotten carried away as he chatted with the other, more approachable Senju.

‘Goodness gracious, you two are ridiculous.’ A comment from the door interrupted Tobirama just as he inhaled to growl something back at Madara. ‘Is it really that hard to admit that you, in fact, _were_ worried? Don’t tell me you went through all that effort only out of duty. And you! I saw how quickly you jumped up as if something bit you in the arse once he showed up.’ The house owner was frowning at them. Madara bit his tongue and gave a silent side-eye to armour-clad Tobirama. They both went red as their eyes met.

‘It’s none of my business so I’m not going to do any couple counselling but you really should talk to each other.’ He made his way towards Madara and shoved his armour into his arms. ‘Funny from you, wouldn’t you say?’ Madara couldn’t help but retort. ‘True. But you know what? After our conversation, I started thinking I might give it a shot. You should as well.’ Tobirama shrugged.

‘Should I ask?’ The ninja Tobirama finally broke his silence over being berated like a child. ‘That’s strictly confidential.’ Madara shook his head resolutely. ‘I appreciate that.’ The other Tobirama smiled weakly.

‘That’s a matter of course. What’s this?’ Madara noticed a rolled piece of paper sticking out of his weapon pouch. ‘I thought you might want to have this…’ Tobirama put his hands behind his back, suddenly looking bashful. Madara curiously fished it out only for his heart to swell with gratitude. It was a picture of their families from the New Year’s celebration. Before he could lose his cool and hug the whitehaired man, Madara was nudged sharply under his unprotected ribs. ‘Crap, the breach is closing again. We cannot linger any longer.’ The ninja Senju said with great urgency.

‘It was nice meeting you, really. Thanks for everything. I’d like you to keep this as a memory so you know it wasn’t just your imagination.’ Madara handed over one of his trusted kunai. ‘Why thank you, I am glad we met as well. Thanks for the chat and…’ Tobirama’s parting speech was rather rudely interrupted by his other copy.

‘Enough of the niceties, we’re leaving, now! Let’s go!’ Tobirama suddenly grabbed his hand and jumped into the hole head-first, dragging Madara behind. All he felt was that strong pull and strange buzzing, then a loud crack and hard landing.

A groan from under him quickly brought him to his senses, which were currently all screaming with excitement from having a body underneath himself. Madara looked up only to meet Tobirama’s slightly panicky eyes. They were _close_. Their noses were almost touching and Madara could feel the soft puffs of Tobirama’s fastened breathing on his red cheeks. He barely registered their hands were still firmly entwined as he was getting lost in the redness of Tobirama’s widened eyes, his parted lips were just inches away and…

‘Thank heavens, you made it back! I almost gave up hoping!’ Izuna’s delighted shriek brought them back to reality. They both jerked their faces towards the source of intrusion and clumsily began to disassemble their tangled limbs. Madara was first to clamber back to his legs and held out a hand for the Senju to help him up. After a moment of hesitation Tobirama took it and if they held onto each other a second longer than was entirely necessary, Izuna wasn’t one to tell.

‘You have to tell me everything! Where did you go? What was it like? Tobi said something about another dimension, is that true?’ Izuna kept talking while fussing over him, apparently oblivious. ‘Yeah, that idiot blasted me to the future or whatever the hell was that. You wouldn’t believe what technology they have. But I’d rather tell you later.’ Madara brushed him off himself.

‘Oh for kami’s sake, for the last time it was an accident, the jutsu wasn’t supposed to malfunction like that. Are you gonna rub it in my face forever?’ Tobirama groused next to them. ‘Forever and a day. Anyways, as you’re the lunatic inventor here, I’d like to talk to you about implementing some of the stuff I saw when I was there into our village. I’m sure we would greatly benefit from some of these improvements.’ Madara turned towards him.

‘As it happens, I’ve been meaning to interrogate you myself on this topic. It’s slightly annoying it means spending more time in your presence but sacrifices have to be made for the sake of science and progress…’ Tobirama shrugged with badly pretended indifference. ‘Yeah, a real bummer I will have to waste on you longer periods of time. Perhaps a meal could make that more tolerable, wouldn’t you say?’ Madara replied equally sarcastically.

‘Sounds acceptable to me. My treat, for the caused trauma?’ Tobirama glanced at him hopefully and Madara had to grin. ‘Is that an apology, Senju?’ His grin widened as Tobirama looked increasingly more flustered. ‘Take it as one, if you have to.’ Tobirama grumbled and averted his eyes. Madara didn’t have the heart to tease him more. His mind was already plotting various ways how to successfully woo the Senju.

‘What a pair of dumbasses. Did it really have to take a time-space trip to finally come to terms with the fact they are head to toes in love? Always so extra… I’m so calling that a date when I tell everyone!’ Izuna rubbed his palms gleefully, which of course went completely unnoticed by the two idiots currently preoccupied by looking at anything but one another. Things were sure about to turn very interesting in Konoha!


End file.
